


Bloom

by gwiyeosang



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Hanahaki Disease, Heavy Angst, Hongjoong is a bit of a dick, M/M, There is no happy ending to be found, Yeosang is a bit selfish, but that's because he's stressed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:37:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21721156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwiyeosang/pseuds/gwiyeosang
Summary: Yeosang loves Yunho, San gets sick.Aka the SangSan Hanahaki Disease no one asked for.
Relationships: Choi San/Kang Yeosang, Jeong Yunho/Kang Yeosang, Mentioned Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Mentioned Kim Hongjoong/Song Mingi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 85





	Bloom

Hongjoong watched as San carefully sat on the couch, head lulling forward as exhaustion took over his body. The younger male had just gotten back from practice, a grueling one from what it appeared, so it was no wonder he was dead on his feet. The leader sighed, knowing an exhausted San was an even more annoying one.

“Wake up and go to your own bed,” he demanded as he shook the dancer’s shoulder gently. “Come on.”

“I can’t move…” San mumbled, voice hoarse. Hongjoong frowned. Was he getting sick? They had a comeback scheduled for two weeks away; there was no time for any of them to get sick. “Carry me.”

“I can’t carry you.” Hongjoong rolled his eyes. “Jongho is asleep, so I’ll just get Yeos—”

“ _No_!” The burst of energy in the one word surprised Hongjoong, but that surprise quickly faded into worry as hard, deep coughs wracked San’s lithe frame. He rubbed the other’s back, unsure of what was going on and made a quick note to restock their medicine cabinet as soon as possible.

The coughs suppressed, but a petal—soft, delicate, and pink—now laid in San’s hand, a stark contrast against the tanned skin of his palm. They both stared at it, fearfully.

“Is it because of Yunho and Yeosang…” Hongjoong asked. San let out a hard sob. “Is it for Yeosang or—”

“Yeah, of course it is.” San threw the petal away. “Yunho got to him first. They started officially dating two weeks ago.”

Hongjoong nodded, remembering the happiness that seemed to explode during dinner one day. He honestly had no idea how Yeosang and Yunho even had developed feelings for each other, much less how it would work. Yeosang was so introverted and shy while Yunho was more outgoing. Maybe they completed each other that way.

As long as it didn’t affect the group, Hongjoong had no qualms about who dated who, who fucked who. He had taken Mingi to bed numerous times himself, as well as Seonghwa. But this? This wasn’t something that could be ignored. This wasn’t something that could be handled. Especially since Hanahaki was ultimately fatal.

“Maybe they found a cure….” Hongjoong offered, feeling out of his place for the first time since debut.

San laughed weakly and shook his head, laying down as shivers took control. It hadn’t been this bad at the beginning. It was just a small cough, at first. Something that could easily have been ignored or treated. It didn’t necessary mean he had the dreaded flower disease. But as Yeosang and Yunho’s relationship progressed, so did the symptoms. Now San had to push himself to do choreography, and singing was nearly out of the picture, especially while dancing. Maybe he could just do what Jongho did when he got injured and sit in a chair.

No, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t cough up a flower petal on stage. It wasn’t worth the risk. He had to go on hiatus or leave the group fully. It’s not like anything would change in the long run anyway. He’d still be leaving his friends behind.

Hongjoong helped him to bed, making sure to walk slowly in case he had to slow any collapses. He would have to talk to Seonghwa and their manager about what to do…

*~*~*~*

It took three days for the flowers to start coming out of San’s mouth in multiples. He begged and pleaded with their manager to not let the others know, and, with his “hiatus due to sudden illness”, San left ATEEZ’s dorm to live with his mom. He was welcomed back with open arms and scolded for letting a boy affect him that much. San smiled weakly, unsure of what to say in response to that. If he could have lost his feelings for Yeosang he would have already.

There was nothing anyone could do, and San accepted the fate that he was dying. He accepted the fate that even if the petals didn’t kill him, his esophagus was too fucked from the branches, roots, and just vomiting in general, to ever continue his dreams of being a singer. He hated that he was letting the fans down; he saw so many go on hiatus because of it. He knew that most of the fans were there for all of them, but a sudden departure for illness didn’t bode well in the music industry and fans were still too raw from other situations. He understood needing a break from everything. San just hoped ATINY would take care of himself. He decided to post a photo of himself, similarly to how Mingi did when he was sick.

“Please don’t worry. I’ll be back! Eat and sleep well, ATINY!” He sent the post on Twitter, feeling a little guilty at lying. He watched as messages and comments poured in, everyone wishing him good luck in his recovery and sending their love, each promising to take care of themselves in return for him doing the same.

 **Joong-hyung**  
12:35PM:  
What are you doing?  
You can’t promise them this.  
I know you care, but this is more detrimental than anything.  
  


 **Sannie**  
12:40 PM  
I just didn’t want to hurt the fans any more than I already have.  
Please don’t scold me for this.   
Take care of yourself, hyung

Another cough wrecked his body and more petals came out. Much more than before, and a cold sweat covered his forehead within seconds. San knew it was almost time. The petals, once baby pink, was now tinged with the deep red of his blood. He didn’t have much more time, and he barely had the energy to leave his room. Eating only made things worse, so he was on a full liquid diet. At least it soothed his throat. San hated that he was getting used to the feeling of the disease as it pushed against his ribcage. Hanahaki, in art, was beautiful. Usually it was portrayed with the body being greyscale and the pop of colour coming from only the flowers trailing along the skeleton as roots surrounded the heart and grew into his lungs. Hanahaki, as an actual disease, however, was absolutely awful. He wondered if he got the gene from his mother or father.

He didn’t care.

He just wanted it to stop.

~*~*~*~

Hongjoong scowled at his laptop, unable to concentrate on the new song he was producing. He hated this. He hated that he couldn’t help San and couldn’t be there for him. He hated not knowing how bad the disease had gotten. Why didn’t the boy just let them handle it as a team. He understood that telling the others would potentially risk— _Oh_. Telling the others would potentially-probably cause Yunho and Yeosang’s relationship to end. San wouldn’t want that. Of course not. Even dying he was still putting the others above himself.

Hongjoong hated it.

He slammed the laptop shut and made a decision. He was going to tell the others, whether San liked it or not. It was a huge breach of trust, but he didn’t want San dying without his friends being there with love and support. So he called a meeting.

The six other members met him in the living room, all staring at him wondering what was going on. Hongjoong didn’t even look at Yeosang as the boy made himself comfortable on Yunho’s lap, waiting for the news

Hongjoong ran his fingers through his hair, making a face as he tried to figure out how to word everything. Seonghwa looked at him, concern shining through his dark eyes.

“We’re going to take a trip to visit San!” Hongjoong said suddenly. “We leave tonight.”

San’s hometown wasn’t that far from the dorms, only a few hours away. They could make a visit, see how he was doing under the excuse of visiting Daegu, the next city over. It was perfect, despite knowing San would see right through his actions.

Wooyoung and Mingi cheered. They had both missed their best friend and were actively being ignored by San. Yunho and Yeosang glanced at each other before nodding, appearing to have a conversation with each other.

“Hongjoong-hyung,” Yeosang started, “is it okay if Yunho and I meet with you guys tomorrow? We—”

“Absolutely not.” The coldness in Hongjoong’s voice made Yeosang swallow thickly. Hongjoong had only used that voice on him once before, when the two had gotten into a large argument and Hongjoong told him to just leave if he wasn’t happy. “San is important. We, as his friends, should be there to check up on him.”

“But Yun—”

“No, Yeosang. And if you continue to ask, the consequences will not be pretty. Now, everyone go and pack a bag that holds enough for a week. I’ll get a hotel now.” Hongjoong left, not caring about the sudden tense atmosphere he was leaving behind. The members slowly got up to pack their bags, Seonghwa following Hongjoong as they shared a room. He wanted answers, but he knew Hongjoong wasn’t in the right mindset to ask. Maybe later….   
  
Soon, they were getting in the car and on the way to see their friend.

Meanwhile, 250 kilometers away, San’s fever erupted. His mom kept placing a cooling cloth on his forehead to try to keep it down but it wasn’t going less than 39. She hated that her baby was suffering and she wanted to hit the boy that made him go through this. Who wouldn’t love San?

Unfortunately, she knew what the spike meant. The person San fell for—San had refused to tell her his name—was being intimate, and it sealed the disease even more so.

“Mom,” San slurred, “I don’t want to die… Not like this.”

“I know, son,” she responded, tearing up. When she allowed San to join an agency and follow his dreams, she never expected to have to say goodbye to him so early. If she had known he would suffer like this, she never would have allowed it. She would have just dealt with his whining and pouts.

In the end though, she knew that being in the group made him happy. She watched him slowly fall asleep, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time he did so.

Three hours later, Hongjoong was itchy. He had told Yunho to stop making out with Yeosang no less than twenty times in the entire car ride and eventually forced Jongho to switch spots and separate them. It was tense, but Hongjoong knew he couldn’t explode on his teammates. It wasn’t fair to them. They didn’t know what was happening.

They climbed out of the van and he made sure that Jongho kept between the two lovebirds. He wasn’t going to make San worse by having him see the two together acting like a couple. The leader knocked on the door, sighing soft as the door opened.

“We came to check on San…” he said.

“Of course. Come on in. He’s still asleep.” San’s mom ushered them in and made each tea. She wondered which of them was the one who was killing her baby.

“Thank you,” Wooyoung smiled brightly. He looked around but wasn’t prepared for the sounds of choking and gasping emitting from a bedroom down the hall. San’s mother dropped a cup and ran to the room, seven boys following.

San gripped his chest as a new pain bubbled up. All of the flowers he just released were saturated with red. Why was it progressing so quickly? Some people lived for years; why did he only have a few weeks?

He looked up as he felt arms, muscled and firm, not soft like his mother’s, wrap around him. His vision was tunneled and blurred, but he could make out the faint red that could only belong to Mingi. San tried to open his mouth to speak but a new wave of flowers, full now not just petals, burst from his mouth.

“Oh, God…” Mingi whispered as he held the boy to his chest, rubbing his back. “San, no. No!”

The singers watched and Yeosang suddenly understood why Hongjoong was so adamant he come today. Why Hongjoong was suddenly so cold to only him, and not Yunho, despite Yunho’s mutual involvement.

It was because of him. San had the disease because of him. San was _dying_ because of him. It was so fucked up. As selfish as it was, Yeosang didn’t want San’s death on him. He couldn’t help the lack of romantic feelings for the younger boy. It wasn’t _fair_.

Hongjoong’s eyes snapped at him, as though able to read his thoughts, before turning back to San and whispering words that Yeosang wasn’t able to hear. San responded weakly.

“Okay. Yeosang, get out.” Hongjoong ordered. The vocalist jolted. “Go to the hotel.”

“But—”

“Do not question me.”

“I—”

“Yeosang!”

“Okay.” Yeosang ran his fingers through his hair, angrily. “But this isn’t my fault. I didn’t know he had feelings for me. I didn’t know he even had the gene. It isn’t my fault I don’t love him in the way he wants me to. Do _not_ place the blame on me.” Yeosang squeezed Yunho’s hand and walked out, saying a polite farewell to San’s mother.

San’s vision darkened more, and he felt himself go numb. The last thing he heard was Mingi shriek in his ear, a painful sound that will haunt the members for the rest of their lives.


End file.
